


Breakfast at Weasley's

by parkguardian



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 10:29:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5740240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkguardian/pseuds/parkguardian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Breakfast at The Burrow can get chaotic, but that's to be expected with the Weasley family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breakfast at Weasley's

**Author's Note:**

> this fic takes place the year bill graduates from hogwarts! therefore, he's 17, charlie is 15, percy is 11, the twins are 9, ron is 7, and ginny is 6. i wrote this during my reread of the series & didn't get a chance to post it until now. thank u for reading!!

The Weasley seating arrangement went as follows:  
  
Arthur sat on one end of the table, Percy the opposite. Molly to Arthur's right, and Bill to Arthur's left. Charlie was squished beside Bill, and Ron beside him, and forced to make room for the awkward chair against the table leg where Ginny now sat. Fred and George sat next to their mother, which never stopped them from dumping bugs directly into Percy's porridge. The twins beside their pompous brother was a recipe for disaster that Molly simply could not fix. Readjusting nine people at a table meant for six was easier said than done.  
  
Arthur engaged in a conversation with his eldest son about a Muggle device. One might recognize it as a walkie-talkie, but Arthur insisted it was the Muggle equivalent of a radio. For some reason, he deemed it necessary to lug the busted walkie-talkie onto the breakfast table. He demonstrated pushing the button, then twisted the dial, and a crackle of static erupted from its dull speakers.  
  
"It's fascinating, isn't it?" Arthur yelled over the sudden white noise. Smoke furled from the walkie-talkie's front. Arthur coughed and sputtered, waving his hand to disperse the smog. The smell of burning plastic filled the room.  
  
Molly put her head in her hands.  
  
"I don't think it's working," Bill pointed out, while Charlie prattled excitedly about a dragon whose cry emulated the exact sound blaring into their dining room.  
  
The other side of the table was doing no better.  
  
Ron's eyes were wide as saucers, and he held his fork like a weapon. Ginny giggled around her mouthful of toast. Percy refused to lift his eyes from his hand-me-down textbook. He found _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ far more interesting than familial interaction, even when the pages were covered in a distracting display of Charlie's boredom induced doodles. With his attention elsewhere, he had yet to notice Fred dangling a snapping spider over his glass of milk.  
  
"Just _what_ are you sniggering about, Ginerva?" Percy asked.  
  
Ginny's answer never came. She kept giggling.  
  
George's smile went mischevious. "You know, Perce, if you looked up once in a while--"  
  
"--You might answer your own question," Fred finished seamlessly.  
  
Prompted, Percy shoved his glasses up the bridge of his nose and peered over the top of his book. His surprised scream stuck in his throat. His scowl appeared in record time. Bringing his book protectively to his chest, he shot away from the table.  
  
The spider snapped its tiny pincers. It wheeled its sticky legs, panicked.  
  
"I think we should let him go," George said.  
  
As abruptly as it had begun, the radio static cut off. The silence that followed felt more awkward than the overlapping chatter. It drew all eyes to Arthur, who continued to beam proudly at the dysfunctional device.  
  
Using the distraction to his advantage, Fred dropped the spider onto Ron's plate instead. Percy stared, horrified, waiting for Ron to notice. Ginny snorted again, stifling herself by cramming her fingers into her mouth.  
  
Charlie was the first to break the quiet.   
  
"It's a derivative breed of the Portugese Long-Snout," he finished lamely. He shoved his spoon back into the muck of his oatmeal.  
  
Molly looked at her children one by one, ignoring Arthur's arms windmilling through the smoke.  
  
Bill seemed bored. His plate was empty, and he was redoing his ponytail with a blank expression. Charlie was hurrying to be the second finished. Ron, pale as Nearly Headless Nick. Ginny, still snickering. Percy, standing off to the side and wriggling like the twins had shoved a scorpion down his pants. Maybe they had. It wouldn't be the first time, anyway.  
  
"Percy, what's wrong?"  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"Sit down, then," she ordered. "You're hardly done with breakfast."  
  
He shook his head again.  
  
"Percy, if you won't tell me what's wrong--"  
  
Ron made a strangled sound. Ginny's pink face distorted, and she floundered in her seat, angling away from her distraught brother.  
  
"Look!" she cried, pointing to Ron's plate.  
  
This was the first Molly had seen of the snapping spider, and it was rearing up on Ron's scrambled eggs. Molly swelled with anger. The tips of her ears flushed. "Fred! George!" she screamed. "What have I told you about bringing those into the house? You know Ron is afraid of spiders!"  
  
"Sorry, Mum," Fred said.  
  
"It was an accident this time. Honest."  
  
"We didn't mean it."  
  
Percy's nostrils flared. "You did, too," he argued. "There's no way that was an accident, I _watched_ you--"  
  
"Please help me," Ron squeaked.  
  
Charlie leaned over and clicked his tongue to his teeth. The spider perked up visibly. Its whole body swiveled, searching for the source of the sound. Charlie held his hand out, palm up, and clicked his tongue again. The spider went easily onto his hand. He didn't ask to excuse himself. He simply squeezed through the gap between the chairs and lumbered to the front lawn.  
  
Ron released a breath, the tension leaving his shoulders.   
  
Percy didn't budge. He clutched the book closer and puffed out his chest. "I'm going out to study in the garden," he said. "Ron can eat the rest of my food."   
  
At this, Ron jumped to bring Percy's plate closer to his own.  
  
Percy stalked out with his chin high. Fred and George looked disappointed. The rest of their meal would be undoubtedly boring without their favourite target sat beside them.  
  
"I hope we don't act like that when _we're_ eleven," Fred said.  
  
"Never," George agreed, and patted his pocket, which squirmed with several more spiders.  
  
Arthur handed Bill the walkie-talkie, a consolation prize for sitting through the chaos. Bill stared at him, then at the walkie-talkie. He spun the dial, and it spat more smoke.  
  
"We're very proud of you, Bill," Arthur said. These statements were becoming more and more regular, because Bill was soon to be moving out of The Burrow, but no sappy sentiment could be voiced without George and Fred picking up on it. They began to echo their father's statements, making Molly Weasley wilt wearily.  
  
Bill quietly excused himself and disappeared upstairs. Molly picked up her empty plate, stacked Bill's on top, and waddled to the kitchen. Ron stuffed his face with the remainder of Percy's toast. Ginny dunked her fingers into Percy's porridge and lobbed it at one of the twins. Food and spiders went soaring across the table. Ron shrieked around his mouthful.   
  
Arthur was sure Molly would prefer he intervene. He knew she would have squabbled about the food drying on their clothes, or the volume of their voices, but he said nothing of the sort. He chose instead to keep eating, listening to their playful taunts, and felt beyond happy to be home.


End file.
